Frustrated by a lack of informed and honest review websites covering a wide range of electronic music, I write them myself.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Various - Die Welt Ist Klang: A Tribute To Pete Namlook (CD3)

Carpe Sonum Records: 2014

Of all the discs in this box set, CD3 has the highest ratio of artists I'm familiar with. That isn't an impressive stat, if I'm honest, as nearly everyone following this one is entirely new to my eyes. You'd think someone with a music collection nearing the four-digit mark should know a more than this. 'Tis not so, my knowledge but a mote of dust in the impossibly vast realm that is Pete Namlook's Influence. I'm not even sure whether these are all new names or scene veterans that have burbled in obscurity for all this time – guess I'll find out when I deal with their discs. Meanwhile, let's have a gander at the 'techno' CD of Die Welt Ist Klang.

First up is Thomas P. Heckmann. You might know him from such labels as Mille Plateaux, Wavescape, and the charming Acid Fuckers Unite. If you’re worth your techno salt at all though, you know him as Drax. For his offering to Namlook’s legacy, he gives us Ode To A Friend, sounding not a touch out of a 1974 krautrock album. Wait, what? Oh, right, talented producer makes music across tons of genres. That’s a running theme with a lot of these Namlook and Fax +49-69/450464 associates, isn’t it? Speaking of, second tune here is from Biosphere, though it’s one of his early demos sent to Mr. Kaulmann way back when, before they hooked up for Fires Of Ork. Holy cow, you guys, it’s Microgravity-era Biosphere! Robot voices! Bleepy techno! Rave-house groove! Long time fans have waited an age to hear something like this from Geir Jensenn again.

Following that, it’s Pascal F.E.O.S., most famous for being one-half of Resistance D., but having made plenty of music on his own too. His track is called Sax On Dub, and it’s... Balearic chill-out? Huh, are we getting any techno on this disc? Not if Oliver Lieb can help it, treating us to a tune that might have once been an Into Deep outtake. Man, the final run of tunes from CD2 was more techno than this. Where’s, like, Anthony Rother when you need him – he made music for Fax+, right? Right, so here’s Anthony Rother’s See Beyond, though more sinister EBM than robotic electro as you’d expect of the guy. It’s XJacks’ Acidbob that finally gives us a proper techno cut, all old-school acid weirdness with a little 808 cowbell for good measure.

A couple more names I recognize from recent digging is Gabriel Le Mar (a proggy breaks tune, plus an acid techno workout with Dr. Motte) and Mick Chillage (getting way-back FSOL vibes on this one). Both their tracks are the best on CD3, though a special mention must be made to Glitch’s Kick The Habit, a vintage hard trance track that’s got everything but a kick. Oh, you tease, we almost did get that which I thought not possible. Or maybe we still will later in the box set. Five more to go. Man, I’m earning this experience.